The teaching term "student engagement" has a wide and varied usage in education. In this course participants will share, enlarge, adapt, and redefine their ideas about engagement through watching videos, reading articles, trying out methods in their own classrooms, and by sharing and challenging each other. Together we will share the pros/cons, challenges and ease of different engagement methods to help students learn. Our focus will be on open dialogue about all methods and the elements and nature of engagement itself. This course begins September 26 and ends November 6.

Revising the Syllabus (Optional Task for Participants)

Examine and give input on the course syllabus.

COURSE SYLLABUS

While doing college tours with my then-high school aged daughter, we came upon some interesting universities and colleges. One such institution designed their curriculum around 100 great works of writing (fiction, expositiory, etc.). At the end of the four-year program students at this college would meet to offer suggestions on what should be included in the 100 works reading list for the school. In order to accept any additional readings, the university required students to meet and agree on which great work of writing would be replaced by the newly suggested piece. That process struck me as a highly engaging and deep idea for collaboration. In that vein (albeit on a much smaller scale), I encourage course participants to think about this course and what should be added (and taken away to make room). Thanks for joining in as we learn together.

So what do you think of the syllabus? How does it look so far? See anything you wish were added, deleted, or adjusted? Use the comments feature here or under the syllabus to discuss your thoughts and ideas. If it feels too early to form an opinion, you may return to this activity at any point during the course (especially the end).

Also feel free to post links and additional resources that would be useful to add to the course and/or syllabus.